Can England keep their World Cup alive? After two extremely stressful knockout stage victories over DR Congo and Mexico, the latter, at the Azteca, one of the most famous in the Three Lions' World Cup history, holding on to win 3-2 despite being down to ten men. So now, tens of thousands of England fans will descend on South Florida on Saturday evening to see their side take on Norway.
England are clear favorites, considering this is their opponents' first-ever major tournament quarter-final, but it may not be as clear-cut as one might first imagine. Ahead of this huge clash at Hard Rock Stadium, Thomas Tuchel does face some key selection decisions.
Marc Guéhi: Sweating over his fitness
Three England players sat out training on Thursday, one of which is Marc Guéhi. He has been described as a "serious doubt" after suffering a hamstring strain during the win in Mexico City, albeit he did take part in training in Miami on Friday, so there is hope he will be fit to play. This would be a major boost, considering Jarell Quansah is suspended, albeit it would not surprise anyone if Guéhi was to miss out, or at least not be available from the start.
Declan Rice: Expected to be available
Declan Rice, similarly, has not trained very much during the course of the week due to illness. The Arsenal midfielder has been nursing "neural pain" in his hamstring since Christmas, he told ITV earlier in the tournament, with England and Arsenal fans alike fearing the worst. Nevertheless, Rice is expected to power through, however long he is in America, and worry about the consequences later.
Reece James: In contention to feature
Tuchel really put a lot of his eggs in the Reece James-basket ahead of this tournament. He did not call up Trent Alexander-Arnold and, after Tino Livramento picked up an injury, this left him very short of right-back options. James started the first two matches, completing 90 minutes, before suffering a hamstring injury, and has not been seen since. Who could have seen this coming?
However, in a potentially major boost, the Chelsea defender has returned to training this week, so is in line to feature. Does Tuchel throw him in from the start, or keep him in reserve, saving James for later in the tournament, even if there may not be a later in the tournament; that is the conundrum.
England players 1 yellow card away from a ban for the semis
While yellow cards were wiped after the group stages, any player booked twice in the knockout phase would sit out a potential semifinal suspended. We already know that, if England are facing Argentina or Switzerland in Atlanta on Wednesday, Quansah won't be involved, but who else could miss out?
Players | Position | When booked |
|---|---|---|
Jude Bellingham | CAM | vs. DR Congo - 19th min |
Declan Rice | CM | vs. Mexico - 1st min |
Marc Guéhi | CB | vs. Mexico - 68th min |
Nico O'Reilly | LB | vs. Mexico - 72nd min |
Jude Bellingham is the name the jumps off the page, albeit Rice is not too far behind in terms of importance, while losing either Guéhi or Nico O'Reilly would be a major issue too. Of course, England cannot get ahead of themselves. Norway will be difficult to beat too, but any Argentine or Swiss supporters watching Saturday's early kick off may be willing referee Clément Turpin to be card happy.
England predicted XI vs. Norway
- Jordan Pickford
- Ezri Konsa, John Stones, Marc Guéhi & Nico O'Reilly
- Declan Rice & Elliot Anderson
- Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham & Anthony Gordon
- Harry Kane
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